Going Solo, With Added Baggage
Ponyville was in a state of hysterical panic, everybeing running to and fro in confusion and fear. The news of the attack spread like wildfire in the otherwise peaceful town. The roads were filled with beings running around in panic. The train station was filled with reporters, off-town merchants and some residential families trying to leave the town in a hurry, causing an overwhelming amount of chaos.
A group of Night Guard soldiers, all of them thestrals, arrived at the town hall with hurried flights. They had bolt action rifles hung on their shoulders and wore a helmet with the Night Guard insignia on it. They quickly landed outside the town hall, and the leader, Fairswith took off his helmet, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
He flagged down a running citizen, a young unicorn mare, and asked her, “What happened here, citizen? Where is Princess Luna?”
“I-I-I don’t know!” she said, her body shaking in fear. “We all ran as soon as D-d-Daybreaker showed up! I think she’s been hurt, but I-I DON’T KNOW!” she said panicking before scampering off to another direction.
He turned to his comrades with a stern look, “I need most of you to restore order to this town. Felt Star and Cosmos, with me!” he said, all three of them hurrying off to the Town Hall.
As they reached the building, they noticed the doors were wide open. Fairswith signalled his team to be on high alert as they entered the ravaged building. The inside itself was almost laced with destruction everywhere, furniture broken, windos shattered but the most shocking of all, in the centre of the room lay his consort, Princess Luna, barely conscious and bleeding profusely, with Twilight beside her trying to close the wound.
His eyes went wide as he rushed towards Luna, pushing Twilight away and checking for her pulse and breathing. She was alive, but just barely.
“Luna, Luna dear! Oh Faust, are you alright?” he asked her in a concerned tone.
Everyone in the room gathered around her as she groaned again in pain, he turned to the others with a desperate tone. “CALL A DOCTOR, NOW! WE HAVE TO GET HER TO A HOSPITAL, GET A STRETCHER OR SOMETHING!” he said to them.
“I’m a doctor!” a voice called out. An unicorn stallion walked towards the princess and quickly began examining her. Twilight sat down beside the doctor, her tears gone by now but still her eyes were red and puffy from crying.
“A deep wound in the torso, she’s lost a lot of blood, and there’s been an internal bleeding to the lungs.” the doctor said as he continued his examination. “We need to get her to a hospital immediately.”
“Then I’ll wire for a quick carriage to the capital.” he said but the doctor quickly shut him down with a hoof wave.
“Too late for that! We need to take her to the nearest one, there’s the Ponyville General Hospital near the marketplace. Right now, we need a stretcher!” he said to Fairswith, who immediately ordered his team to bring a stretcher from their equipment.
The doctor, with the help of Twilight and the Night Guard soldiers, carefully lifted Princess Luna onto the stretcher, making sure to stabilise her injured body. Twilight walked beside her mentor, upset at the events that happened.
“Oh Princess… I should have helped you instead of just running off and hiding. I could’ve-” she said but a groan from Luna stopped her self-condemnation.
“Da…. Da… stop her….” she weakly mumbled in pain, much to her surprise before falling into unconsciousness. The others carried the stretcher even faster while Fairswith turned to Twilight with a look of strictness.
“Miss Sparkle, I think it would be in both our best interests if you stay here for the time being. As of now, I’ll wire more reinforcements from the surrounding area near Ponyville to ensure the stability here. In the meantime, you’ll be safe.” he said to her.
Why are they treating me like I’m sort of a helpless foal?
“What do you mean you three are quitting!”
Twilight turned her attention towards Winters who was angrily talking to three of his members, as they tossed their rifles on the ground. The others beside him watched as three of his members unstrapped themselves from their equipment.
One of the members, Lucky Clover turned to him with a sympathetic look. “Sorry dude, but holy crap did you see that! We can take care of a couple of pesters and Solarians, BUT HOLY DAMN FAUST. We are not going anywhere near her!” he said, before walking away quickly without a second thought.
“Yeah, bud sorry. I’m desperate for money, but not this desperate.” Caramel said, regretfully to him, walking away as well. “Well, I'm going back to my family. Sorry bud.” he said before turning around and walking away at a brisk speed. Time Keeper looked at him sadly before leaving him in the street without saying anything.
Winters kicked the ground in frustration, “Goddamnit!” he said to himself, with Rarity patting on his back in pity.
This has gone all bad to worse… I need… I need to figure something out, maybe I can stop Dayvbreaker, somehow. But how?
Twilight walked around in circles, her mind racing with questions and worry. Her eyes looked left and right in panic as she thought of a plan. Her eyes lit up in eagerness as she realised what she could do first.
THE LIBRARY!
Twilight took running across the stone streets of Ponyville, avoiding the various panicked residents of Ponyville until she reached the library. Panting heavily, she bursted into the library and looked around the library, extremely messy of the party decorations earlier and books scattered all over the place after turning the lights on. She let out a sigh as she walked beside the still-sleeping Spike, before rummaging through the shelves. Some of the shelves were still unfinished from being organised, making it harder for her to search for the book she needed.
“Twilight?”
She turned her head behind her to see Winters looking at her perplexedly, “Winters, what?” she asked him as she turned back to the shelves, still rummaging through it.
Winters scratched the side of his head, “Uh, what’re you doing?” he said, taking off his vest and placing it on the sofa.
“Stopping Daybreaker in the name of national security!” she replied, still focused on her search.
He looked at her in confusion, “By searching dusty books?”
“Not just dusty books, Winters. I need to find a way to stop Daybreaker from conquering the kingdom, and I know no military can stop her even in this day and age, you saw how she almost killed the Princess!” she replied again, this time even more frantically and frustrated. “UUGH, WHERE’S THIS BOOK!”
“Let me help you out, what book do you need?” he offered, walking over to her and scanning the shelves.
“A book that can ensure Daybreaker’s defeat!”
…..
…..
…..
“That doesn’t help.” Winters said as he turned to her with a blank look on his face.
Twilight continued pulling books off the shelves, “Anything that used to say about defeating Daybreaker!”
“What?” he asked, tilting his head as he did.
Twilight groaned in frustration and turned to him with a look of exasperation. “For Luna’s sake Winters, history! Search history!” she said in an increasingly irritated tone.
“Okay okay!” Winters said nervously as he turned his attention towards the shelves, avoiding a glare from Twilight. They pulled out book after book, from encyclopaedias, novellas, comics to biographies. But nothing seemed to be helpful in their search.
A few minutes later..
“UGGGH! Where is it!” Twilight said, frantically searching through the shelves.
Winters looked over at her, “Twilight, maybe we should take a break? It’s not like the book is going to disappear.” he tried to lighten the mood, but Twilight wasn’t listening; she was surrounded by a castle of various books around her. Some of the books stacked like a tower tipped, causing it to be scattered everywhere on the ground.
Winters could only watch in silent concern as Twilight continued her search, becoming more and more agitated by the minute.
CRASH
Twilight and Winters quickly turned their heads behind them, just to see a certain rainbow-maned pegasus on the ground. Pieces of glass from the window littered the library floor as the pegasus got up, shaking her wings from the impact.
“YOU AGAIN?” Twilight shouted out in exasperation.
I’m getting tired of seeing this damn pegasus in my life.
Rainbow Dash stood up, brushing the glass off her coat. “Yeah it’s me. Now-” she tried to say but before she could finish her sentence, Twilight enveloped her in magical energy, lifting her off the ground and pinning her to the nearest wall.
“Hey! What gives!”
Twilight gave Rainbow a dirty look, “I’m tired of YOU stalking me around town, whether you want to beat me up, berate me about some past incident that doesn’t even need to be rectified anymore, and or whatever else it is you want. I have had enough!"
She glared at her. "So, unless you have a very good reason for being here, I suggest you get out of my sight.” she remarked with a cold and stern tone as she glared at her.
Rainbow looked at her with a smug look, “Pffft, as if. Look here Miss Upper Ants-see of Canterlot. I don’t care, and you can’t make me.” she said with a snark. “And besides, I literally just saw the princess get shanked by some sun devil or somethin. So I’m not here to fight you or anything.”
She literally has no shame of all of this! Not even feel bad about the princess!
Before Twilight could question her further, the front door of the library opened and another group walked in. Winters’ eyes lit up in excitement while Twilight’s eyes and ears wavered in confusion and annoyance.
“Girls!” Winters said as he walked over to them and gave each of them a quick hug. Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy returned the embrace with smiles on their faces.
“What’s going on here, sugarcube?” Applejack asked, looking at Twilight and Rainbow Dash, who were still locked in a standoff. “And why’s Rainbow here pinned to the wall like a bounty poster?”
Twilight rolled her eyes in frustration before releasing her magic from the pegasus, causing her to drop to the ground unceremoniously face first.
Rainbow groaned as she stood back up, rubbing her head from the impact. “Thanks for the gentle landing, Spark Plug,” she muttered sarcastically.
Twilight ignored her and turned back to the rows of shelves, and similarly ignored the others who had just arrived. The others looked at each other in confusion, before Rarity walked over to her and gave her a gentle nudge. “Uh, Miss Sparkle? Is everything alright?”
Twilight let out an irritated sigh and turned to Rarity with a tired look, “I’ve been looking everywhere for a book-”
“Hey, I helped as well!”
“BUT, I haven’t seen anything that can tell me to defeat Daybreaker! And now the kingdom’s in trouble, the princess’ in near death and the Daybreaker could be everywhere leading an army!” Twilight exclaimed in a fidgety and nervous state, her hooves tapping anxiously on the ground.
Rarity placed a comforting hoof on Twilight’s shoulder, “Look darling, maybe we can help-” but Twilight quickly pulled her shoulder away from Rarity and took a few steps back.
“I appreciate the offer, but I can figure this out on my own. Maybe I can get to Canterlot quickly and search through the archives. Wait, but will they let me in? The princess made it clear to me that none can access the archives without her approval and she’s in the hospital facing a grave injury and-” Twilight’s eyes began darting left and right again as she nervously ran a hoof through her mane.
Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack with a smirk, “Spark Plug is high off her head isn’t she?”
The farm mare turned back to her friend with a disapproving head shake, “Rainbow, you literally smashed right into this library. I’d say your high off the county bull, Rains.”
Rainbow flattered her wings in annoyance, “Hey, it was an accident!”
“Like all your smashing into other ponies windows is an accident?” Applejack challenged her, leaning her head against her friend’s head. Rainbow scoffed and pushed her head as well, simulating a standoff from each other.
Meanwhile Fluttershy quietly looked around the library, taking in the surroundings. As she did, her attention turned to a picture book on the floor. She picked it up and examined it for a while.
As Twilight continued to mumble possible consequences and scavenged the shelves, Fluttershy walked over to her with the book under her wing.
“Uh.. Miss Sparkle?”
Twilight continued to search the shelves absentmindedly, not paying attention to Fluttershy’s approach. Fluttershy then placed a wing on her shoulder, causing Twilight to quickly turn around with a frustrated look.
“For Faust’s sake what is it!” she exclaimed, not noticing the book. Fluttershy recoiled in fear, shakily giving the book before hiding behind Rainbow Dash. Twilight looked at the title of the book in surprise.
“Life Of Old Equestria?” she said to herself. “Why did you give me this book, Miss Shy?” Twilight asked, turning to the timid pegasus.
Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before speaking in a soft voice, “I.. I read this before and-and I thought this could be useful for you?”
Twilight thought for a moment, before her eyes widening in realisation. “Wait a minute, I remember this book. Spike read it back at Canterlot before we left for the preparations,” Twilight said in excitement,flipping through the pages of the book.
“Now where is it? It should be… here!” Twilight exclaimed pointing towards a passage on a page.
The others crowded around her as she quickly scanned the page, muttering to herself. “Daybreaker’s arrogance showed no bounds as she faced Princess Luna in the ruins of Sisterswith. The arrogance fueled the princess’ resolve to defeat her, using the Elements of Harmony to banish Daybreaker for a millennia.”
“THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY!” the others shouted in accidental unison.
Oh great..
Twilight closed the book with an expression of mild determination, “Well, Sisterswith then. If I know my ancient city studies correctly, Sisterswith’s a couple of kilometres here!” Looking at her left, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings in excitement.
“Ah yeah! All we need to do is get those Elements of uh whatever and blast that Daybreakerin cunt all the way back to where she came from!” she said, fisting a hoof in the air.
“Oh oh oh, this is gonna be super duper funtastic! I really wanna see if I can throw a surprise party before she goes poof!” Pinkie Pie jumped around in excitement.
Rarity winced at Rainbow Dash’s language before settling her eyes on Twilight’s face, a look of frustration was etched on her face. “Uh, Twilight dear? Are you alright?” she said with a hint of worriedness in her tone.
Twilight let out a small groan, before turning to Rarity. “I much prefer, if I do this alone.” she said with such sharpness that it even rivals a bureauling .
Winters’ eyes widened in shock, Rarity’s expression turned to one of hurt, Rainbow Dash’s face turned to look of anger, Applejack shook her head in disappointment, Fluttershy bit her lips while Pinkie Pie’s mouth hung open in surprise. The atmosphere in the room turned tense and uncomfortable.
“Excuse me, Twi!” Winters said, grabbing her shoulders and turning her head to face his. “Are you just insane? Daybreaker could kill you in a mere second you know?”
Twilight rolled her eyes and let out a sigh, pushing his hooves away with a field of her magic. “Winter, look I-”
“Now look here darling, I’m not really sure I follow on you’re refusal but-”
“Aren’t you just gonna get yourself killed-”
“Buh-by a really sca-scary demon alicorn and-”
“DIE ALL ALONE AND SCARED, AND POSSIBLY YOUR BODY TURNED TO ASHES!”
Everyone turned to Pinkie in shock, who had a wide-eyed expression and had just shouted the last part with an almost excited but dramatic flourish.
Pinkie Pie grinned cheerily and said, “But don’t worry, I’ll throw a big farewell party for you if you do go out in a blaze of glory!”
Twilight looked at her with a mix of disbelief and annoyance. “Miss Pie, I’m not planning on dying,” she said, trying to maintain her composure. “And besides, I don’t need a couple of civilians interrupting me every step of the way.” she continued with a grit of her teeth.
The room went silent as Twilight’s words hung in the air. Winters looked at her with a mix of concern and disappointment, while the other ponies exchanged glances, unsure of what to say next.
“Twilight, you can’t be serious!” Winters said to her in shock.
For goodness sakes Winters, can’t you just let me handle this?
“I am!” Twilight shouted at him, pushing away his hooves, causing him to fall on his flank. “I don’t need your help, okay? I can handle this perfectly on my own!” she spouted out the words with such finality that even the air seemed to tense up.
Winters looked up to her, tears forming in his eyes before getting and quickly running out of the library. Rarity glanced between the library door and Twilight, giving her a glare before running out after him, along with Applejack and Fluttershy.
Pinkie looked at Twilight with a sad expression before following the others out of the library, leaving only Rainbow Dash and Twilight alone in the room.
Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight, her face unreadable as she flew slowly towards her. Her wings gave a soft fluttering noise before landing on the wooden floor. She looked at Twilight, her nose scrunching up in a disgusted motion.
“I can definitely see the Canterlot in ya, Sparkplug.” she said sarcastically.
Twilight’s eyes narrowed at Rainbow Dash’s comment. “Excuse me? What’s that supposed to mean?” she said, her tone icy.
Rainbow raised her hooves in mock compliance, “Nothing, nothing. Just sayin’ whatever’s on my mind, ya know? Letting the air out of my mind.”
I’m surprised you even got one.
“Look, I’m on this on my own and-”
“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Rainbow Dash interrupted, rolling her eyes. “You’re on your own, and you don’t need anybody’s help. In fact, I’ll be going off and doing some uh, damage control.” she said to her, opening the window and flying off.
Twilight watched as Rainbow Dash flew away before letting out a sigh. She turned back towards the shelves, her eyes scanning the covers.
“Now where’s the topography section?”
Winters and Rarity sat on the park bench next to each other as Winters wiped away tears from his eyes. He sniffled and took a deep breath, trying to compose himself.
Rarity patted a hoof on his back while Winters looked solemnly on the ground. The others excluding Pinkie and Rainbow Dash looked at him in sadness and concern.
“Now look, Winters. I’m sure she didn’t mean any of those words,” Rarity comforted him. “Most likely, she’s uh… stressed?”
Winters turned to Rarity with a bitter laugh, “Stress, more like herself again. I guess I shouldn’t expect any more from her.”
Applejack let out a guffaw before placing a hoof around Winters’ neck, “Now look here, Wins. I ain’t the one to give out much advice, that’s Rarity’s line of work,” she said with a smirk, causing Rarity to give her a disapproving look. “But I know you ain’t the kind to give up easily. Maybe you can get her to convince you again?”
“Like how?” Winters asked back at her.
“Maybe we can just go along with her without her noticing us?” a soft voice said behind the bench.
Everyone turned around to see Fluttershy standing there, her head tilted to the side whilst her wings folded back in a nervous gesture.
Winters’ eyes lit up in hope, his tears quickly disappearing into the stone ground below as he stood up. “You’re- you’re right! Twilight usually likes to work on her own, but if we follow her I can try to be there for her without being an idiot to her.”
“Wa-wa-wa-wait, your just gonna stalk her around town until something happens?” Applejack asked, her eyebrows raised, not quite believing his idea.
Winter shrugged his shoulders, “Better than nothing right? And besides, it ain’t stalking persay. Moreso into the continuous observation field?”
The others looked at one another; Fluttershy seemed to be regretting what she suggested as her hooves shuffled on the ground nervously, Rarity thought for a moment but her lips slowly curled into a smile while Applejack raised an eyebrow sceptically. Applejack sighed in defeat and nodded towards him.
“Well if you gonna follow her, then we might as well come with you too.” Applejack said, earning an excited and hopeful nod from him.
“Come on girls!” he said excitedly, quickly running off back to the library. The others followed him in pursuit but leaving the park, and running back to the library.
As they arrived back at the library however, the front door was already open and inside, Twilight was nowhere to be seen.
“Wait, where is she?” Winters said, looking around the mess of a library. He glanced his eyes towards the sofa where a still sleeping Spike was curled up in a ball but otherwise the sofa was clean of anything else.
Something doesn’t feel right…
“Gosh darn, she must have found whatever she was looking for here.” Applejack said with a huff.
Rarity looked on the ground, her eyes firmly resting on one book. “The Complete Geographical Atlas, Nature and Olden History of the Kingdom.” she said out loud. “Huh, I’m guessing this is the one she was- goodness diamond dogs what in the world!”
The lights in the library turned off suddenly, but it wasn’t just the library. The whole town went dark, plunging the friends into complete darkness.
“What in tarnation is going on now?” Applejack muttered, trying to adjust her eyes to the dark while Fluttershy’s wings trembled as she tried to hold onto her wings for comfort.
“I got a flashlight in my vest! Hold on girls.” Winters said to them as he got up and walked to the sofa. He glanced his eyes, scrounging up and down the sofa but the vest wasn’t on it. He even gently lifted Spike from the sofa cushions but it wasn’t even under him.
Winters looked around on the floor, trying to find the vest with the flashlight. After a few moments of searching, he gave up and walked back to the others. “Well crud, I thought I put it there. Had my multitool, revolver and flashlight in there. Maybe you girls can help me find it ?”
“Darling, we can’t exactly see right?” Rarity’s voice echoed in the darkness, causing Winters to stop in his tracks. “Besides, I know a light spell.”
Her horn lit up, casting a warm glow across the room. The light illuminated the room, revealing the mess that Twilight had left behind. Papers and books were scattered all over the place, the furniture was overturned, and some of the shelves had even been knocked down.
“I’ve seen better. Anyways, anything about the book?” Winter said, eagerly leaning his head to take a peak, along with Applejack on Rarity’s left and Fluttershy who shyly raised her head behind them.
Rarity rolled her eyes before flipping through the pages quickly, scanning her eyes across the various maps shown in the book.
“Wait, what’re you doing? Aren’t we supposed to-”
Rarity quickly shushed him off as she flipped more and more pages, earning a disgruntled grunt from Winters. Rarity kept flipping until she reached a section of the book where a visible tear of a ripped page. The others squinted their eyes, mostly in confusion.
“Uh Rarity? What are we looking at?” Fluttershy asked, earning a grin from Rarity.
“Well my dear Fluttershy, this page just so happens to contain the map that leads to the Everfree Forest and its ancient roads. I’ve checked the index.”
Winter’s eyes widened in realisation, “So that means,” he paused, thinking over his words for a moment, “But why would she go there?”
Rarity placed a hoof under her head in a thoughtful gesture, “She mentioned Sisterswith, and if memories serves me correctly Sisterswith’s is an old castle during the Olden Era that’s rumoured to be deep in the forest. But nobeing has made any incursions in there since the Willyas administration!”
“But the Everfree forest? She’s gonna get herself killed!” Winters said, quickly getting up and already heading for the door.
The others quickly followed Winters, rushing out of the library and into the dark and chaotic streets. The town was still in chaos, with buildings on fire and ponies running in all directions. They made their way towards the edge of town, where the gated fences of the Everfree Forest loomed ahead of them.
As they walk on the stone road, with Rarity’s light illuminating the way and the cold atmosphere of the night covering their senses, they see two figures walking across the road in front of them. They stopped in their tracks, as the figures heard them and turned around. To their surprise, it was Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, the latter had a lantern tied on the back of her tail.
“Yoo! You guys, what’re you all doing walking in the night here?” Rainbow Dash asked, flying towards them in quick pace with Pinkie pie galloping behind her in excitement.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I can’t believe we ran into you guys here! This is so funtastic sporadic!” Pinkie Pie said, bouncing up and down in glee.
“We’re looking for Twilight, have you seen her?” Winters asked, getting straight to the point.
Rainbow scratched the side of her head in nervousness, “Well we kinda did buuut…” she trailed off. “Kinda ignored her ya know? Don’t know where she’s going in a hurry but that’s not my problem.” she continued spitefully.
Winters’ eyes widened, “Are you kidding me, Rainbow? She’s heading off to the Everfree Forest alone and you’re here saying that it’s not your problem.” he emphasised the last part in clear vehemency.
“Hey look, I’m just saying that she can take care of herself. She said so herself!” Rainbow tried to defend herself.
Winters shook his head in disbelief, “Rainbow, I’m not gonna stand here and do nothing. I’m her best friend and I’m supposed to be looking out for her!” he said angrily at her.
“Hey, I’m just stating what she wants okay?”
“As if!”
Fluttershy timidly stepped in between the two, “Um, Rainbow?” she asked her friend, much to Rainbow’s surprise.
“Fluttershy? Wha- what’re you doing here?” she asked her, earning a gulp from her. Fluttershy stroked the ground with her hooves in nervousness, biting her lips as she did.
“I… want to help them.” she responded, albeit in a shy tone.
Twilight Sparkle finally finished cutting the last of the steel wires holding together the fence, creating a small hole between the security of the stone streets and the Everfree Forests. She nodded approvingly to herself, placing the multitool back in Winters’ vest she took earlier.
As she stepped through the hole in the fence, she shivered, feeling the cold and eerie atmosphere of the forest. But as she stepped forward, the vest got snagged on a stray wire, causing it to create a tiny rip on the collar. Forcefully pulling it out, she caused a larger rip than it was before.
Oh screw it, I’ll pay him back. Besides, he won’t mind. It’s not like he’s gonna miss it or something.
Twilight rolled her eyes before placing the vest near the open hole in the fence.
I can’t believe it, those guards completely closed off the main gate, and not only that but I’m gonna lose time on this!
She felt a nervous sensation in her heart, before quickly shrugging it off. This was no time for doubts or hesitation, she needed to press on. Twilight took a deep breath and walked forward into the forest, her hooves crunching on the dead leaves on the forest floor.
As she walked deeper into the forest, the trees grew thicker and the darkness deeper. She checked the map again, trying to make sure she was heading in the right direction.
Suddenly, she heard a rustling sound behind her, causing her to freeze in her tracks. She slowly turned around, her horn glowing with magical energy. A group was heading towards her. Without thinking, she quickly shot a magical bolt towards the direction of the sound, illuminating the surrounding area with a bright light.
The bolt narrowly missed the one leading the way, who ducked away just in time for getting hit. Twilight could now see that the group wasn’t Solarians.
“What in the world are you all following me here for!” she angrily said, placing a hoof in front of them.
Winters, along with the others who almost got shot as well, walked up to her in a look of annoyance. “Watching you of course! If you’re gonna get killed out there, you might as well bring your own coffin with you. But with us, you’re not!”
Twilight raised an eyebrow, still not fully convinced. “And why would you want to come with me?” she asked this time quieter, eyeing them suspiciously. “This is a death sentence, for all of you! There could be a Solarian patrolling here, two of them just took over the main gate, didn’t you see?”
“I saw, while they're not exactly the most dangerous bunch, I still wouldn't go anywhere near them.” Rarity added. “But darling, don’t you realise that your self-imposed mission to defeat Daybreaker is going to be easy you know? You need help.”
Twilight scoffed at the notion of the word help.
“And don’t even think of sending us away, Sugarcube. Nobeing ever done anything by themselves.” Applejack chimed in. “We’re gonna follow you, whether you want it or not.”
Twilight looked at them incredulously, her eyes looking at each member of the group from the frightened face of Fluttershy before settling her eyes on Rainbow Dash.
“Are you seriously gonna let them follow me? Think about your friend Fluttershy, she’s gonna get herself killed because of me!” Twilight remarked, hoping that Rainbow could convince the others to back off.
Rainbow Dash looked at Twilight with an odd expression, which slowly turned to a confident one. “It’s her choice, and I respect it. Besides, I’m here for her, not for you Spark Plug.”
Twilight looked at them desperately, hoping that there’s a smidge of a chance that they will leave but to no avail. Finally she groaned in defeat, turning her head towards the other in a pained look.
“Fine, but if anything happens to any of you, it’s not my fault. And don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Twilight grumbled, her tone filled with frustration.
The group let out a collective cheer, all patting each other’s backs in excitement. Twilight rolled her eyes before leading the group towards deeper in the Everfree Forest, the darkness surrounding them like a thick blanket.
Oh Luna’s grace, what did I do to deserve this.
As the group walked deeper in the forest, a small flash of a camera bulb in a rose bush hidden from view ignited behind them, without their knowledge.